Heidi Trelstad Lost Over 140lbs After Seeing Herself On A Food Network TV Show!
Heidi Trelstad opened up her bakery in 2010, ‘Chef Sugar’s Cakes & Confections’. After the success of her business, she was featured on the “Food Network Challenge,” a reality TV show where bakers compete against each other.
After watching the show on HD TV, Heidi realised that she wanted to take better care of herself, and while she was never “overweight and miserable”, she realised that she wanted to get better, every single day, in every aspect of her life.
Heidi decided it was time to eat better, start training and stay disciplined and with this mindset, lost over 140lbs in the next 5 years and completely transformed her life.
Read on, to find out exactly how Heidi completed this amazing transformation, her diet, her training and questions about her journey that we were dying to know. Enjoy!
Check Out Heidi Trelstad’s Social Media Here:
Instagram: @heiditrelstad
Facebook: facebook.com/heiditrelstad.fitchick
Facebook: facebook.com/heiditrelstad.model
Heidi Trelstad Weight Loss Diet:
Breakfast: Protein bar/shake or a couple eggs or oatmeal (I am not a morning person, so this was what worked for my schedule)
Mid Morning: Banana or apple
Lunch: Chicken and veggies or soup (turkey chili is a favorite or chicken-vegetable)
Mid Afternoon: Greek yogurt
Dinner: Chicken or turkey with veggies
After Dinner Snack: Dove dark chocolate or hummus or peanut butter with apple
The basic goal daily for me is 40% carbs, 30% fat, 30% protein. Learning to eat to fuel my body has been an enriching process and I have learned so much!
One of the biggest things I had to do was to eat smaller, controlled portions more times per day to start to get my metabolism working constantly…..as crazy as it sounds, a lot of times I would get too busy working all day and forget to eat until late at night after working all day, so to set new habits I actually set several alarms on my phone that would remind me to eat at certain times. Now my body runs like a clock and knows exactly when to eat!
Heidi Trelstad Weight Loss Workout:
2x per week I did a fitness bootcamp which constantly changed but would generally include about 1000-1500 reps during an hour period. Things like: lunges, squats, pushups, running, kettle bells, planks, mountain climbers, wall sits, oblique twists, situps, burpees, get ups, bear crawls, tire flips, etc. Sometimes it would be boxing or pilates. It was 1 hour of intensive working out.
The rest of the week would consist of cardio and/or lifting. I generally tried to do 45min-1 hour per session…sometimes up to 2 hours.
Heidi Trelstad Interview:
Before Stats: 31/5’8”/281.8lbs/
After Stats: 36/5’8”/152 lbs/15%
*I was down to 140lbs but have been weight training for the last couple years after the initial weightloss and have built some muscle mass since then.
What Was Your Diet Like Originally?
Generally ate one large meal per day or maybe two. Often pasta or cereal or sandwiches or salads. Sometimes pizza or Mexican. Overall too many fats and carbs. I never ate fast food nor fried foods, but certainly too many carbs and sweets
What Made You Start Getting Healthy?
I just woke up one day and realized I wanted to spend the rest of my life being better than I was the day prior in every way possible: mind, body and spirit. I think maybe it truly started when I was on my first TV show: Food Network Challenge and truly saw what I really looked like. But I can’t really pinpoint that because I think it had been a long time coming and I just was ready for change and just WOKE up! I will state that I wasn’t a miserable plus sized woman, I was happy and beautiful and I owned my size 20 body for about 15 years but I just decided that a change was in order.
What Small Changes Do You Think Had The Biggest Impact On Losing The 142lbs?
I didn’t start eating perfectly and training hardcore right from the start, I eased into it and would implement one new change at a time. Sometimes it would be adding extra time to my workout or adding a whole extra day. Other times it would be getting rid of one more thing from my diet that I shouldn’t be eating.
Sometimes it would be as simple as not allowing myself to punish myself after failing or having a cheat meal…..reality is that sometimes we might gain a pound or two or eat something we probably shouldn’t eat but it’s not the end of the world and tomorrow is a new day, so staying positive can really lend to success!
How Did You Stay Motivated?
The success kept me going. It’s easy to be driven by the results of changing sizes steadily. I also have always been a fan of fashion and like to have tangible goals, so I would purchase a pair of jeans or a dress that I wanted to fit into and would try it on until it fit. Then when I reached that goal, I would buy something new to work myself into and would keep pushing for more.
Then I got back into modeling and that certainly pushed me and continues to push me to stay fit and capable of fulfilling specific needs in the industry.
Were There Any Particular Tough Points On Your Journey?
HA!!!!!! Too many tough points to list! I often felt like I needed to go to the hospital after a gruelling workout because everything hurt so much. There were countless times I cried throughout my workouts and there were times I would plateau and not see any results for months and months on end and then I would have another breakthrough.
It’s not an easy task to lose half of one’s body weight and for me I wanted to do it the long/hard way and instead of having bypass or something to kickstart the loss I just dove into exercise and learning how to change my diet and it took me YEARS, so I am sure you can imagine the tough times I encountered.
What Advice Would You Give Someone Looking To Lose Weight?
KEEP GOING! There is absolutely NO quick fix and it will take a lifestyle and lifetime of dedication to clean eating and training. The weight isn’t gained overnight and it won’t be lost overnight either.
When hitting a plateau or challenge, make a small change to push yourself a little more at the gym or eat a little cleaner and the little extra changes will push you forward and toward success.
At the end of the day, remember that the body is merely a shell and what is important is to find balance and happiness. Not everyone should train as much as I do and others will train more than me. I focus more on clean eating as I feel that diet is about 85% of the battle (for me at least) and it’s not easy to keep to my strict diet especially since I own a bakery!!!!
Allow yourself to live and enjoy, but also learn to control yourself and find balance. There is no perfect size out there for anyone and you shouldn’t lose weight for anyone but yourself. Don’t try to be what you are not, just find comfortability and balance and happiness in whatever size/shape that means for you and OWN IT! I was an incredibly happy and confident size 20 woman and I’m just as happy and confident as a size 4! Happiness is a choice and it doesn’t happen because of one’s size, it’s something that is found within.
What Are The Most Common Questions People Ask When They See Your Incredible Change?
How Did You Do It??? Everyone wants to hear that I found the miracle plan or pill or quick fix, but they often don’t appreciate that the answer is simply: clean eating and hard training for YEARS!
Did You Have Surgery? No I did not have weightloss surgery to lose weight; however, after losing all 142lbs I did have skin removal (no lipo) from my stomach and had breast reduction/lift/implants. There comes a point where if you lose half your body weight, you WILL be left with extra skin and I still have plenty of extra loose skin, but there is no amount of clean eating or training that will fix that amount of extra skin……removal via surgery is the only fix.
What Are Your Favourite Healthy/Weight Loss Recipes?
Chili! I love a good hearty extra lean turkey chili. Spice is a fantastic way to get flavor without adding tons of sodium or carbs to dishes. Instead of salad dressing I like to use homemade salsa because it adds tons of flavor and no extra fat. The tomatoes are high in sugar but a little goes a long way.
Peanut butter!!!!!!! I love peanut butter and it’s a great filler and adds tons of flavor to apples or celery or even to oatmeal in the morning….it’s like eating peanut butter cookie dough batter!
How Do You Feel After Completing Such An Amazing Transformation?
Accomplished. I never thought I would lose as much as I did, I truly never initially sought out to get this small. I had a goal of becoming a size 12 and when I hit that I just kept going!
It’s amazing to realize how capable we are, it’s rather shocking actually. I also feel a little bewildered as it has certainly changed my entire life, including my relationships. It is harder to know when someone sees my inner beauty shine rather than just to focus on the outside. Otherwise I feel energized and happy and full of life! It’s also pretty amazing to realize how I can encourage and help others and offer hope to them!!!! It’s exciting for sure.
